That was more than twenty-five years ago and we’re still working to be more and more generous to each other… and everyone else we know or encounter. The power of generosity is extraordinary, and if you don’t expect anything in response there’s no real downside.

Most folks react in kind to generosity, especially if you keep at it. They may not give back as much as they receive, but most will become nicer and easier to deal with. For those who don’t, just see them as especially needy and do what you can to keep being generous. Generosity is like a muscle; the more you use it the stronger it gets.

Give it a try. All you have to lose is people being grumpy around you.

~ Paul – I’m XY, and my wife keeps showing me how to be even more generous!

Lori is awesome. I mean that sincerely, she is a great example to us wives. This line jumped out at me:

The power of generosity is extraordinary, and if you don’t expect anything in response there’s no real downside.

See, I try to be generous to my husband, I really do. But it’s the “not expecting anything in response” part I need to work on. I still struggle with pride. It’s “negative” pride, but it’s pride nonetheless.

So I can see that rather than focusing on the negative, and wasting countless hours upon hours wishing I was good enough for my husband, wishing he really loved me as much as he says he does (wishing he’d show it), wishing he’d find me sexually desirable (or that my sex drive towards him would lessen significantly)… Instead of all that wishing and wanting for things I cannot have, I really need to focus on who I am, my character, what God wants from me, and yes – being more generous to people – especially my husband – and what you wrote might be the key – NOT expecting anything in return.

Luke 6:35 Jesus tells us to expect nothing in return. “For then your rewards will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.” He was talking about loving our enemies. But even those we love become our “enemies” when they intrude on our will.

When my sons were little, I would come home from a long day, exhausted, and they wanted to play with Daddy. I tell you, they were my enemies then! But I tried to do what was right, even though I really didn’t want to. That shows us that love is an action, not a feeling.

And generosity is the same. If I don’t feel generous but act that way anyway, it does become contagious. And the really amazing thing is that I begin to catch the contagion myself. My actions may or may not change someone else, but they certainly will change me.